Automatic feed for lathes.



S. HOUGH.

AUTOMATIC FEED FOR LATHES.

APPLICATlON FILED MAR- 25. I9 l8.

Patented Mar. 18, 1919.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

3 h 2w bu. N n \n .Om mq R 2 Q MLQ a A TTORNE Y.

AUTOMATIC FEED FOR LATHES.

APPLICATION F-ILED MAR. 25, 1913.

Patnted Mar. 18,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

INVENTOR.

v y mm ATTORNEY -CItlZQ III of the United States, residing at Atco, inthe countyof Camden and State of New Jersey, have inventednew and usepTo'aZZ whom it may concern:

V SAMUEL Hone-H; or :ATCO, new JERSEY;

AUTOMATIC FEED Fort LA'IH'ES.

Be it, known that I SAM EL HOUGH, a

ful Improvements in Automatic Feed for Lathes, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in automatic feedfor lathes, and has for its object to provide in a device of thischaracter means whereby the power for driving the boring bar forward maybe greatly increased particularly for use in boring steel billets suchas used in the manufacture of shells or projectiles. r

.- Another object ofthe invention is toprovide a split feed nut ofunique construction inclosed in ahousinghaving means to open and closesaid feednut, said housing being pivoted or journaled in a suitablebifurcated bracket whereby the rotation of the housing will open orclosesaid feed nut.

"A further object of the invention is to provide a split feed nutoperating upon a boring bar, the former being opened and closed by therotation of its housing and spring actuated means to quickly rotate thehousing in one direction forropening said feed nut, said means beingnormally held in an inoperative position by a latch which is withdrawnfrom engagement with said means at a predetermined time by an adjustabledog on the feed bar.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a boring barbearing in a device 7 of this character which will eliminate allundue'lateral movement and positively hold the boring bar in centralalinement with the chuck, saidbearing consisting of an integralrectangular bearing surface or section on the boring bar and a box inwhich said section slides snugly fitting said section.

With these ends in view; this invention consists in the details ofconstruction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and thenspecifically designated by the claims. j

In order that those skilled in the art to which this inventionappertains may understand how to make and use the same, I will describeits construction in detail referring by numerals to the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this application, in which Figure 1, is aside elevation of myaui-tos Specification of Letters Patent. 1 PatentedMar. 18, 1919.

Application filed March 25,1918. SeriaINo .2 24,587.

matic feed, portions thereof being broken;

, away and shown in section to clearly illustrate the invention it beingshownapplied from the lathe with parts broken away. and

shown in section to illustrate the construet1on,and

Fig.3, is a Fig. 1.

section a the 11a d-Bot In carrying out my inventionas hereem- Y.

bodied2 represents a lathe bed or the frame [of a suitable machinetowhich my invention Lmay be applied and said lathe bed carriesthe'ordinary and well known shears 3 with -which registers the invertedV shaped grooves 4 in the under side of the base plates 5 and 6 whichare adapted to be bolted to the bed plate in any ordinary and well knownmanner.

The base plate 6 carries two pedestals? and 8, which may be of anydesirable shape, size or configuration and at the upper ends of thesepedestals are located the journal boxes or bearings for the boring bar9, the

latter end of which also runs through the.

tail stock of the lathe while the forward end of'said boring bar has anintegral rectangular or squarebearing surface or section 10 of a lengthsligthly greater than the entire longitudinal movement of the boringbar,

and this rectangular bearing surface is slida-bly mounted in a suitablerectangular bearing or box located at the upper end of the pedestal 11carried. by the base plate 5 and as the rectangular bearing section orsurface 1O snugly fits its box, therecan be no lateral movement of theboring bar, so that when centered with relation to the lathe chuck thetwo must absolutely always remain in their relative centered positionsthereby producing absolutely accurate work.

The rear portion of the boring bar is threaded as at 12 and coactingtherewith are the two elements 13 and-14L of the split feed nut, eachelement of said feed nut having a pair of oppositely projecting lugsl5'which. L

register with and work in the inclined or angular slots 16 formed in thefeed nut housing 17 which is provided witha ch a1n' ber 18 ofsuitableconfiguration to passover thethreaded portion ofthe boring bar andinclose the two elements of the feed nut; and said chamber is ofsufficient sizetolpermit a certain amount ofmovement of theh'ous ingwithout interfering Withlthe other cos c operating parts. The angulargrooves orslotsrl6 project outwardly from the vertical I si'tely andoutwardly projected trunnions: 19

which are pivoted or journaled in the arms,

20 of the bifurcated bracket 21so that said housing may be rotatedwithin the limits of 'theslots; '16 and'in order that saidhousrng may be'ni'anually rotated,fone of thetruniiioii-s'proj'ects through and beyondthe outer surface of one of the armsof the. bifurcated bracket a sentiendistance to permit a suitab'lehairdle 22 to be mounted thereonand in iorder that said housing be mtmam I chanicallyI form a projection 23therewith which exteiids from its outer surfaceand its I I I I I IIyOkeACS whereby suitablemeansmay be coni nected with the boring" barorquickly sliding the same back'when id'eisiredor after an oputilitywill be hereinafter described.

The bifurcated bracket 21 is carried by theiw'orni gear 24 and at theend opposite said worm gear, said bracket is "rovided was a thrust head25 against w the housing of the split feed nut may abut.

The Worm gear and bracket are journaled between the two pedestals 7 and8 in any well" known and approved manner: as; by

thrust bearings and said Worm gear'isjdriven by. a worm 2e mounted upona shaft 27 to which power motion are transmitted by some suitable meanssuch as a beveled gear 28 carried by one end of saidshaft.

pedestal 8 is provided with an in tegral spring'l housing 29Qhaying oneend closed as at 30 with a hole 31 therethrough while: the other end ofthe housing is open and has mounted therein auc ap 32 with a hole 3 3therethrough in alin'ement with the hole 31. In these holes is sli'dablymountedthe radar, the inner end of which is beveled a's at' 35' so thatwhen the projection23 strihesthis beveled end atter the rod has beenmoved inward, the feed nut housing will be rotated in one direction toseparate the members of the feed nut whereby they will be disengaged'frointhe threaded porof the boring bar;- a I The rod'34 has a" collar'36 or itsequival'ent located adjacent its inner end, said collar islocated withiii the housing 29 and is engaged as the inoyable member byone end of'th'e coiled spring 37 which is also located within thehousing and iscoile'd about the rod and the opposite end of said springengages thecap 32 as the stationarymember. This rod 34 also has" acoll'a-r 3801' its equivalent located adjacent the outerend thereof andoutside of the housing and is adapted to "be engaged b the. springactuated latch 39 when'the rod 34 is Withdrawn against the action ot thespring 37 Whiclrinay be ac'conr plished by means of a suitable hand hold40 at theouter end of said rod. I

The latch 39 is; slidably mounted in a suitable barrel 41 preferablyformed as an integral part of the housing 29 and in the bore' of-this-barrel i s-located a spring 42 engaging a collar 13 or itsequivalent carried by the ilatclr'as amovable member and also engagingthe outerend wall of the barrel as thestati nary member so that thelatchis normally forced toward the rod 34. The in- I ner orlo'weir' endof the latch is rearwardly beveled as at 443 so that when the rod ,34:is drawn outward, sai'cl'latch willride'over justabl efdoghd ,wli-ichis'adjustably mounted -tq c1rtne'bcring"bar and is held in any suitableadjustnient by any well known means f such as a set screw or bolt1-7;

I The -bo ringj bar be 'srdvidea with a I elation u-as'been completed.

The enter; the baring bar adjacent or cutting h'ead' may be attachedthereto and with the attachment, as here described, I prefer to use myimproved adjustable cut "toward the lathe 'ehuclr iis'provid'ed withsuitable means wner ty a boring. toolor ting head'fi9 which carriesplurality of cutting tools and which is fully described in myapplication, Serial Number 190,708, filed September 11, 1917, whensuchacut'tin'g head is used with this deyic'e,the plurality Ioftoo'lsfafter entering the work will also act as a bearing for thegradually extending end ofthe' boring bar which willprevent'chatterii-rg'and' cause thawork to be finished accurately'whichis] highly essential the 'inanufacture of munition' shells jGCtilSr, I iI V r I V V Wheii the worl'r has been placed in the V chuck ready to bebored or otherwiseffinished, the boring bar-9 is first moved back asuflicient' distance to permit the insertion of the work after'whichthemembers 13 and lfl o l" the feed nut are closed upon the threadedportion 12' of the boring'bar by rotating thehoufs'in'g 17 inthe'directionef A I the arrow A, Fig: 1" which will causethe ends-of thegrooves or slots l dwh'i'ch are the greatest distance from: thelongitudinal 1 center of the boring bar to be moved away from theVertical 'cei 'iter'of the ,feed nut when constructed as showiiin Fig. 1thereby acting ascains upon the lugs 15 and thereby force thei'nenibei'sof the split nut toward the boring bar and into engagement with thethreads thereof. The rod army next be withdrawn or pulled outwardagainst the actionof the spring'37 so astowithdraw thein'ne'ieii'dofsaid rod' outof the pathlot travel of the projection 23' and at thesame'7 time compress thespring. This actiorr will cause the latch .39 to rideoverthe 'c'ollari38 and thereby in behind the "same, thus holding therod34 in a setposition as shown in Fig. 1. The dog 46 is then adjustedto the proper position for the depth of bore desired in the work or thedistance whichit is desired that the boring bar shall travel, v

The power then being applied from some 7 suitable source through thebeveled gear 28 ing 17 and the elements 13 and 14: of the feed nut willfeed the boring bar toward the chuck or Work holding device.

' At some point through the forward feedg of the boring bar, the dog .46will engage the finger 45 of the latch 39 and draw said latch outwardagainst the action of its spring 7 42 thus disengaged; the inner end ofsaid latch from the collar 38 which will release the rod Siand permit itto be uickly forced inward and by its spring 3 which ,will' project theinner beveled end 35 of said rod into the path of travel of theprojection 23 and as soon as said projection strikes the beveled innerend of the rod, it will be caused to ride on said beveled end and movein a direction opposite to the arrow A in Fig. 1 causing the housing 17to rotate about its trimnions 19 so that the ends of the slots orgrooves 16 farthest from the longitudinal center of the boring bar willbe moved toward the vertical center of the feed nut when constructed asshown in Fig. 1 and this will force the members of the feed nut awayfrom the boring bar so as to disengage said members from the threadedportion and stop the feeding of the boringbar.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details ofconstruction as herein shown, as these may be varied within the limitsof the appended claims without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new andpatentable is 1. An automatic feed comprising pedestals, a boring barhaving a threaded portion, slidably mounted in said pedestals, a.

worm gear revolving about the boring bar, a bracket carried by the wormgear, a housing rotatably journaled in said bracket, said housing havingangular or inclined slots, a split feed nut withinthe housing adapted toengage the threaded portion of the boring bar, lugs carried by the partsof the feed nut registering with the slots and means for rotating thehousing to open or close the feed nut.

2. An automatic feed comprising pedestals, a boring bar having athreaded portion, slidably mounted in said pedestals, a worm gearrevolving about the boring bar, a

ing bar,

bracket carried by the worm gear, a'housing rotatably ournaled 1n saidbracket, said housing having angular or inclined slots, a

split-feed nut within the housing adapted to engage the threaded.portion of the boring bar, lugs carried by the parts ofthe feed nutregistering with theslots, means for rotating the housing in onedirection to close the feednut, a projection extending from the housingand sprin actuated means adapted tobe moved into the path of travel ofthe projection whereby, the housing will be rotated in the oppositedirection to open the feed nut. I V

'3. An automatic feed comprising pedestals, a boring bar having athreaded portion,

slidably mounted in said pedestals, a worm gear revolving abouttheboring, bar, a bracket carried by the Worm gear, a housing rotatablyjournaledin said bracket, said housing having angular or inclined slots,a split feed ,nut within thehousing adapted to engage the threadedportion of the borlugs carried by the, parts ofthefeed nut registeringwith the slots, means for rotating the housing in one directionto closethe feed nut, a projection extending from the housing, a spring actuatedmeans for normally holding the first named spring actuated meanswithdrawn or in a set position and an adjustable dog carried by theboring bar to operate the last named spring actuated means when theboring bar has traveled a predetermined distance.

4. An automatic feed comprising a threaded boring bar, a gear journaledto revolve about the boring bar, a bracket carried by the gear, a feednut housing rotatably jour naled in the bracket and revolving therewith,said housing having inclined slots and a two part feed nut coacting withthe threaded portion of the boring bar, each part of said feed nutcarrying means registering with the inclined slots whereby the rotationof the rotation of the housing will move the feed nut parts toward oraway from the boring bar.

5. An automatic feed comprising a threaded boring bar, a two part feednut coacting therewith, each part having lugs projecting therefrom, ahousing in which the feed nut is mounted, said housing having means forengagement with the lugs whereby the ro tation of the housing will openor close the feed nut and trunnions projecting from the housing forrotatably mounting the housing in a suitable supporting means.

6. An automatic feed comprising a threaded boring bar, a two part feednut coacting therewith, each part having lugs projecting therefrom, ahousing in which the feed nut is mounted, said housing having means forengagement with the lugs whereby the rotation of the housing will openor close the feed nut, trunnions projecting from the housing,- abracketrevolving about the bor- 111 bar i11 Whioh the hou'slng is rotatably'joufnal'ed by mesins of itst 'linnion's, means on one "of the trunniohsfor rotating the ,housingin one direction" zthdmetfis' for 'rotatifi-git in the opposite direction.

7. In a1 boring bai'feed, a; boring bar, a split feed nut; 'a rotatablefeed nuthousing provided with means coacting With suitable means onthefeed -nut whereby the latter may be opelied and closed, a projection onsaid'fee'd nut housing, a spring housing open 'at one end and closed atthe other, said closed 7 end having a hole therethrough, a cap pro-Vided with a hole, mounted in the Open end, a bet slidably' mounted insaid holes, the inner end of said ball being beveled and adapted to meetwith the projection for rotating the feed nut housing in one direction,the outer, end of said bar having'a haind hold, a collar on thebar-located within the spring hohsin'g', a spring en aging said 001-co'pias' in this patent ma? be attained fbr:

dfaWr'I,- as spiing WithiIi the batrrel for nor- 7 many; foicing thelatch toward the bat, a finger on the hitch ,aind an adjustable dog onthe boring bar adalpted to engage the finger When the boring'btr hastraveled a predetermined distahce to Withdraw the V latch froniiengagement With theb'a'r and permit the action of thespring to the baninto the- 'path' of travel of the projection oh the housing;

Iii testimony whereof, Ihax e hereunto 7 affi'xed sign ture;

SAMUEL HOUGH'.

